After Deaths, Transportation Officials Increase Bike Safety Efforts

A separated bike lane in Long Beach, a city cited as a model for bike friendliness by several local officials. (Photo credit: studio-111blog.com)

ByNICK GERDAApril 16, 2014 at 1:00 PM

After a string of high-profile deaths, government officials from across Orange County are ramping up their efforts to make it safer and easier for people to ride bikes.

And they’re working with bicycle advocates to come up with solutions.

At a workshop Monday night, Orange County Transportation Authority officials gathered with dozens of activists to hear their ideas amid thousands of injuries to local cyclists and numerous deaths in recent years.

“We have a serious problem here, and I have no idea what the answers are,” said OCTA Director Todd Spitzer, who is also a county supervisor. “I’m here to hear from you, because we need your ideas.”

The issue has affected elected leaders directly.

“I’ve been hit many, many times myself” while cycling, said OCTA Vice Chairman Jeff Lalloway.

“It’s never fun when a friend dies or someone we know [dies]. It’s very dangerous out there.”

Spitzer agreed, noting that his bike rides on a major street are often formidable.

“I was a cop for 10 years, and I’m more nervous riding on Santiago Canyon Road on a road bike than I am making entry into a house where I don’t know what’s on the inside” said Spitzer, who came up with the idea of a workshop on the issue.

Another suggestion from Fullerton cycling advocate Vince Buck was that OCTA set up a bicycle advisory committee composed of a cross section of people.

OCTA should also encourage local cities to have bicycle advisory committees, he added.

One meeting participant suggested that the county government itself can make a big difference by encouraging its employees to bike to work.

That idea, however, has apparently been met with concern about legal liabilities from the county CEO’s office.

But Bill Sellin, a board member at the Orange County Bicycle Coalition who worked for the city of Irvine for 34 years, pointed out that biking “predates the automobile.”

He suggested that officials view fast car speeds next to cyclists as a bigger liability than encouraging people to safely ride to work.

Another issue pointed to by advocates is inconsistencies between cities’ municipal codes when it comes to biking.

For example, some cities allow biking on sidewalks while others don’t.

OCTA officials noted that while they can help cities with planning and funding, it ultimately depends on residents and city leaders to advocate for bike projects.

“It starts in all of our individual local communities,” said Lalloway, recognizing that grassroots efforts have proven very effective at having infrastructure built.

Marina Ramirez of the affordable housing group NeighborWorks Orange County encouraged officials to hold more stakeholder forums like Monday night’s to delve into the policies.

“No one knows the streets as much as they do,” said Ramirez.

Meanwhile, Nelson, who is OCTA chairman this year, pointed to Santa Ana as being in a prime position to transform itself into a bicycle-friendly community.

“I think more than any community in Orange County, Santa Ana has the most opportunity to do something big” in changing the way things are, Nelson said.

Santa Ana “would be the perfect place to emulate what we’ve seen in Long Beach” and become a bike-centric city, said Nelson, who added that Long Beach has been doing a “fabulous” job.

That city of 468,000, which borders northwest Orange County, has installed a series of green-colored bike lanes, as well as bike lanes that are separated from car traffic:

Nelson spearheaded a collaborative effort to update bike infrastructure in his North County district, with the construction contract for its first bikeway project approved by county supervisors earlier this month.

That planning effort is now either under way or scheduled across the rest of the county supervisors’ districts, with a South Orange County planning session scheduled for Wednesday, May 28, at 5:30 p.m. at the Laguna Hills Community Center.

Other elected officials active in the bike-friendliness movement include Newport Beach Councilwoman Leslie Daigle and Santa Ana Councilwoman Michele Martinez.

Pressure on local elected officials has also come from biking advocates such as Miller of San Clemente, Peters of Newport Beach and Zavala of UC Irvine.

There’s widespread agreement that good bike infrastructure planning takes bringing officials and residents together to come up with a big-picture plan.

Nelson pointed to county supervisors and OCTA as being able to play a supportive role in persuading people to think “on a much more global scale.”

He added that all the studies he knows of show that the more bicycles you have on the road, the safer it is – not only for cyclists but also for motorists.

The increased focus on bike infrastructure comes amid a growing effort nationwide to transform communities into being more bike and pedestrian friendly.

There’s a “huge movement out there to support active transportation,” Nelson noted.

Advocates say such environments help boost health, public safety and economic development, along with reducing pollution and fostering more enjoyable areas to spend time.

After Monday’s event, OCTA officials plan to take a close look at the advocates’ ideas and keep the conversation going.

A huge shift is taking place, they noted.

OCTA has moved from being a “passive participant” in bike planning to an “active participant,” said Johnson, the agency’s CEO.

“We’re at the beginning of a big sea change,” said Nelson. “The agency, in partnership with the cities, is a believer.”